THE PRESIDENT: Listen, before I want to say something, I'm
traveling with a guest and a friend who represents thousands of people
all across this country who are affiliated with the Democrat Party. My
friend has come from Georgia to share a message with you about how
we're going to work with Republicans and Democrats and independents to
carry the great state of Pennsylvania. Please welcome my friend,
Senator Zell Miller. (Applause.)

I'm thrilled to be traveling with him. I told Zell when we landed,
I said, this is a good size crowd here, and there's a reason why --
because we're going to carry Pennsylvania on November the 2nd.
(Applause. And that's what I'm here to do. I'm here to ask for your
vote and ask for your help. (Applause.) I'm asking that you turn out
your friends and neighbors to the polls. I'm asking you to continue to
make the phone calls and put up the signs. I'm asking you to do
everything you can, because, with your help, we'll make America a safer
country, a stronger country, and a better country for every single
citizen. (Applause.)

Perhaps the most important reason to put me back into office is so
that Laura will be the First Lady for four more years. (Applause.)
When I asked her to marry me, she said, fine, just make me a promise.
I said, what is it? Promise me I'll never have to give a political
speech. (Laughter.) I said, okay, you got a deal. Fortunately, she
didn't hold me to that deal. She is giving a lot of speeches, and when
she does the American people see a fine, compassionate, strong First
Lady. (Applause.)

I'm proud of my running mate, Dick Cheney. I admit it, he does not
have the waviest hair in the race. (Laughter.) You'll be happy to
hear I didn't pick him because of his hairdo. I picked him because of
his judgment. I picked him because of his experience. He's getting
the job done for the American people. (Applause.)

What a great United States Senator Rick Santorum is. (Applause.)
He and Zell serve in the Senate together. I'm proud to have Rick
Santorum as my campaign manager for the state of Pennsylvania. I'm
proud to have -- call him friend, and I know you're proud to call him
Senator. (Applause.) And I hope you put Arlen Specter back in there.
We need to work with him for six more years. (Applause.)

I'm honored to be on the stage with Joe Pitts, Congressman from
this area. I appreciate you being here, Joe. Thanks for your
service. (Applause.) I want to thank Pat Toomey for the class he
showed during the primary campaign. I appreciate his leadership and
his service to the Congress. I want to thank all the candidates who
are here, people running for office. I wish you all the best coming
down the stretch. I want to thank my friend, Daron Norwood and the
Matt Goss Band for singing. (Applause.)

Most of all, I want to thank you all. You've lifted our spirits
for being here. You're kind with your time and I want to thank you for
coming. (Applause.) This election comes down to some clear choices --

AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT: This election -- this election comes down to some
clear choices, clear choices for our families. We have issues of great
consequence. The first clear choice is the most important because it
concerns the security of your family. All the progress on every other
issue depends on the safety of our citizens. It will be the first
presidential election since September the 11th, 2001. Americans will
go to the polls in a time of war, an ongoing threat unlike any we have
ever faced before. The terrorists who killed thousands are still
dangerous, and they are determined to strike again. And the outcome of
this election will set the direction of the war against the
terrorists.

The most solemn duty of the American President is to protect the
American people. If America shows uncertainty or weakness in this
decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on
my watch. (Applause.)

Since that terrible morning of September the 11th, 2001, we fought
the terrorists across the Earth -- not for pride, not for power, but
because the lives of our citizens are at stake. Our strategy is
clear: We've strengthened the protection of the homeland. Tom Ridge,
the former governor of your state, is doing a great job as the
Secretary of Homeland Security. (Applause.) We're strengthening our
intelligence capabilities. We're transforming our military. There
will be no draft. The all-volunteer army will remain an all-volunteer
army. (Applause.) We're staying on the offensive. We're relentless;
we are determined. We will strike the terrorists abroad so we do not
have to face them here at home. (Applause.)

And part of our strategy is to spread liberty. We believe in the
transformational power of liberty to change societies. Think what
happened in Afghanistan -- think about what happened there. It wasn't
all that long ago that young girls couldn't go to school, and if their
mothers didn't toe the line of the ideologues of the hate which ran
that country, they were whipped in the public square and sometimes
executed in a sports stadium. Because we acted in our self-interest,
because we acted to destroy al Qaeda's capacity to train in
Afghanistan, millions of people went to vote in a presidential
election. The first voter in that election was a 19-year-old woman.
Freedom is on the march, and America is more secure for it.
(Applause.)

Iraq will be having presidential elections in January. That
society has come a long way from the days of torture chambers and mass
graves. Free societies are hopeful societies. By spreading freedom
and liberty, we not only secure ourselves in the short-term, we spread
the peace that we all long for so our children and our grandchildren
can grow up in a hopeful tomorrow.

A President has to lead with consistency and strength. In a war
sometimes your tactics have to change, but not your principles.
(Applause.) Americans have seen how I do my job. Even when you might
not agree with me, you know what I believe, and where I stand and where
I intend to lead our country. (Applause.) On good days and on bad
days, whether the polls are up, or the polls are down, I am determined
to win this war on terror and to protect the American people. And I
will always support the men and women who wear their nation's uniform.
(Applause.)

I want to thank those who wear the uniform. I want to thank the
families of our military. And I want to thank the veterans who are
here who have set such a great example. (Applause.) We have a duty to
support those in harm's way with all the resources they need, necessary
for them to do their job. That's why I went to the United States
Congress and asked for $87 billion of supplemental funding to support
our troops in combat. And we got good support in the Congress; matter
of fact, the support was so strong that only 12 United States senators
voted against the supplemental funding request -- two of whom were my
opponent and his running mate.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: As you're out gathering the vote and as you're out
talking to people about this election, remind people of this startling
statistic: Only four members of the United States Senate voted to
authorize the use of force and then voted against providing the funding
for our troops in combat -- only four -- two of whom were my opponent
and his running mate.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: So they asked him -- they asked him -- I'm sure the
people of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, are just as surprised as people all
around the country when he gave his famous answer about his vote. He
said, I actually did vote for the $87 billion right before I voted
against it. (Laughter.) He's given a lot of explanations since then
-- a lot of them. One of the most interesting ones of all was that it
was just a complicated matter. There's nothing complicated about
supporting our troops in combat. (Applause.)

After repeatedly calling Iraq the wrong war, and a diversion,
Senator Kerry this week seemed shocked to learn that Iraq was a
dangerous place, full of dangerous weapons. (Laughter.) The Senator
used to know that, even though he seems to have forgotten it over the
course of the campaign. But after all, that's why we're there. Iraq
was a dangerous place run by a dangerous tyrant who had a lot of
weapons. We have seized or destroyed more than 400,000 tons of
munitions, including explosives, at more than -- thousands of different
sites. And we're continuing to round up more weapons every day.

I want to remind the American people, if Senator Kerry had his way,
we would still be taking our global test, Saddam Hussein would still be
in power, he would control all those weapons and explosives, and could
have shared them with our terrorist enemies. Now, the Senator is
making wild charges about missing explosives, when his top foreign
policy advisor admits -- quote -- "We do not know the facts." Think
about that. The Senator is denigrating the action of our troops and
commanders in the field without knowing the facts.

Unfortunately, that's part of a pattern of saying almost anything
to get elected, like when Senator Kerry charged that our military
failed to get Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora, even though our top
military commander, General Tommy Franks, said, "The Senator's
understanding of events does not square with reality." And our
intelligence reports placed bin Laden in any of several different
countries at the time.

Our military is now investigating a number of possible scenarios,
including that the explosives may have been moved before our troops
even arrived at the site. This investigation is important and it's
ongoing. And a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without
knowing the facts is not a person you want as your Commander-in-Chief.
(Applause.)

When it comes to your security -- when it comes to the security of
our families, my opponent takes a very different approach. He says
that September the 11th did not change him much at all.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: And his policies make that clear. He says the war
on terror is primarily a law enforcement and intelligence-gathering
operation. Well, September the 11th changed me. I remember the day I
was in the -- at Ground Zero, on September the 4th, 2001 [sic]. It's a
day I will never forget. There were workers in hard hats there yelling
at me at the top of their lungs, "Whatever it takes." I remember a man
grabbed me by the arm, he looked me square in the eye, and he said, "Do
not let me down." Ever since that day, I wake up every morning trying
to figure out how to better protect America. I will never relent in
defending America, whatever it takes. (Applause.)

The second clear choice -- the second clear choice in this election
concerns your family budget. When I ran for President four years ago,
I pledged to lower taxes for American families, and I kept my word.
(Applause.) We've doubled the child credit to $1,000 per child. We
reduced the marriage penalty. The tax code should encourage marriage,
not penalize marriage. (Applause.) We created the lowest -- a lower
tax bracket of 10 percent so working families would get help. We
reduced income taxes for everybody who paid income taxes. We helped
our farmers, we helped our ranchers, we helped our small business
owners. After-tax income -- that's the money in your pocket --
increased by about 10 percent since I became your President.
(Applause.)

Our economy has been through a lot, and I want you to remind your
friends and neighbors about these facts. First, six months prior to
our arrival in Washington, the stock market was in serious decline.
And then we had a recession. Then we had corporate scandals. And then
the attacks of September the 11th cost us about a million jobs in the
three months after that fateful day. But we acted. By cutting the
taxes, we spurred consumption and investment. And our economic
policies have led us back to growth. Our economy is growing faster
than any nation in the industrialized world. We've added 1.9 million
new jobs since August of 2003. The national unemployment rate is 5.4
percent, which is lower than the average rate of the 1970s, the 1980s,
and the 1990s. (Applause.)

The unemployment rate in Pennsylvania is 5.3 percent. Home
ownership rate is at an all-time high. Farm income is up. The small
business sector of our economy is flourishing. The entrepreneurial
spirit is strong, and we're not going to go back to the days of tax and
spend. (Applause.)

My opponent has very different plans for your budget. He's going
to take a big chunk out of it. He voted against all the tax relief
that I suggested Congress pass. If he'd had his way, the average
family in America would be paying $2,000 more in taxes to the federal
government.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: All told, during his 20 years in the United States
Senate, he has voted to raise taxes 98 times. That's five times a
year. I would call that a predictable pattern. (Laughter.) When a
senator does something that often, he must really enjoy it.
(Laughter.) During this campaign he's proposed $2.2 trillion of new
spending. Now, that is a trillion with a "T." That's a lot even for a
senator from Massachusetts. (Laughter.)

So they said, how are you going to pay for it? And he said, oh,
we're just going to tax the rich. Now, you've heard that before. Be
wary when you hear, oh, we're just going to tax the rich. My opponent
has promised $2.2 trillion, but when you run up the top two brackets,
you only raise between $600 billion and $800 billion. There is a gap
between that which he promised and that which he can deliver. And
guess who usually fills that gap.

AUDIENCE: We do!

THE PRESIDENT: We're not going to let him tax you. We're going to
carry Pennsylvania on November the 2nd, and win a great victory.
(Applause.)

AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT: The third clear choice in this election involves
the quality of life of our families. A good education and quality
health care are important to a successful life. As a candidate, I
pledged to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations by reforming
our public schools, and as President, I kept my word. (Applause.) We
passed education reforms to bring high standards to our classrooms and
to make schools accountable to our parents. We're seeing progress all
across America. Math and reading scores are on the rise. Achievement
gaps, particularly for minority students, are closing all across our
country. We're building on these reforms. We'll extend them to our
high schools, so that no child is left behind in America. (Applause.)

We'll continue to improve our lives. We're making health care more
accessible and affordable. We will expand health savings accounts so
small businesses can cover their workers and more families are able to
get health care accounts they manage and call their own. We will
create association health plans so small businesses can join together
and buy insurance at the same discounts that big companies are able to
do. (Applause.) We will help families in need by expanding community
health centers. We'll make sure every eligible child is enrolled in
our government's low-income health insurance programs.

And to help the families of Pennsylvania, we will do something
about the frivolous lawsuits that are running up the cost of medicine
and running good doctors out of practice. (Applause.) Like other
states, you got an issue when it comes to these medical liability
lawsuits. I met too many good OB/GYNs who have been run out of
practice because their premiums have gone up too high. I have met
expectant mothers here in Pennsylvania who are worried about whether
they and their baby will get the health care they need. You cannot be
pro-doctor and pro-patient and pro-personal trial lawyer at the same
time. You have to make your choice. My opponent made his choice, and
he put a personal injury trial lawyer on the ticket. I have made my
choice. I'm standing with the doctors of Pennsylvania, with the
patients of Pennsylvania. I'm for medical liability reform now.
(Applause.)

My opponent has got a different view when it comes to health care.
I remember our debate when he looked right in the camera and he said
his health care plan -- the government has nothing to do with it. I
could barely contain myself. (Laughter.) The government has got a lot
to do with it. Eight out of ten people would be signed up to a
government program. Think about the idea of making it easier for
people to sign up for Medicaid. It means small businesses will no
longer provide coverage for their employees because the government
will. And people would be moved from private insurance to government
insurance. You see, when the government writes the checks, the
government starts making the rules. And when it comes to health care,
when the government makes the rules, the government starts making your
decisions. And they start making the decisions for you, and they start
making the decisions for the doctors.

His plan is a big government-run health care plan. It is the wrong
prescription for American families. In all we do to reform health
care, we'll make sure the decisions are made by doctors and patients,
not by officials in Washington, D.C. (Applause.)

The fourth clear choice in this election involves your retirement.
Our nation has made a solemn commitment to America's seniors on Social
Security and Medicare. When I ran for President four years ago I
promised to keep that commitment and improve Medicare by adding
prescription drug coverage. I kept my word. (Applause.) Seniors are
now getting discounts on medicine with drug discount cards. Low-income
seniors are getting $600 to help this year and $600 to help next year,
to help them afford prescription drugs. And beginning in 2006, all
seniors will be able to get prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
(Applause.)

And we'll keep the promise of Social Security for our seniors, and
as we do so, we'll strengthen Social Security for generations to come.
I want you to remember what happened in the 2000 campaign. It is --
it's pretty predicable what takes place when it comes to elections.
You might remember, they said if George W. gets elected, our seniors
will not get their checks. Well, I want you to remind your friends and
neighbors, when you're out gathering up the vote, that George W. did
get elected, and our seniors did get their checks. (Applause.) And
our seniors will continue to get their checks under Social Security, no
matter what the politicians try to scare you with.

Baby boomers like me are in pretty good shape when it comes to the
Social Security trust. But we need to worry about our children and our
grandchildren. We need to worry about whether the Social Security
system will be there when they need it. And that's why I think younger
workers ought to be able to take some of their own money and put it in
a personal savings account, a savings account that will earn a better
rate of return, a savings account they call their own, a savings
account that the government cannot take away. (Applause.)

My opponent takes a different approach when it comes to Social
Security. He declared he will protect Social Security. But I want you
to remind people that he voted eight times for higher taxes on Social
Security benefits. And when it comes to the next generation, he hasn't
offered anything at all when it comes to strengthening Social
Security. The job of a President is to confront problems, not to pass
them on to future generations and future Presidents. In a new term,
I'll bring people together and strengthen the Social Security system
for generations to come. (Applause.)

In this campaign, I'm speaking to the hopes of all Americans. The
President's job is not to lead one party, but to serve the entire
nation. I'm proud to have life-long Democrats like Zell Miller by my
side. (Applause.) And he's joined by millions of other Democrats
across our country who are supporting our ticket. As the citizens of
this nation prepare to vote, I want to speak directly to the
Democrats. I'm a proud Republican, but I believe my policies appeal to
many Democrats. In fact, I believe my opponent is running away from
some of the great traditions of the Democrat Party. If you're a
Democrat and you want America to be strong and confident in our ideals,
I'd be honored to have your vote. (Applause.)

The Democratic Party has a great tradition of leading this country
with strength and conviction in times of war and crisis. I think of
Franklin Roosevelt's commitment to total victory. I think of Harry
Truman's clear vision at the beginning of the Cold War. I think of
John Kennedy's brave declaration of American ideals. President Kennedy
said: "The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state,
but from the hand of God." (Applause.)

Many Democrats look at my opponent and wonder where the -- that
great tradition of their party has gone. My opponent takes a narrow,
defensive view of the war on terror. As the United States of America
hunts down the terrorists and liberates millions from tyranny, and aids
the rise of liberty in distant lands, my opponent counsels retreat,
votes against supporting our troops in combat, downplays the power of
democracy, and accepts and adopts a narrow so-called realism that is
little more than defeatism. I believe American leadership is the hope
of the repressed, the source of our great security, and the greatest
force for good in this world. I believe the liberation of captive
peoples is a noble achievement that all Americans can be proud of.
(Applause.)

If you are a Democrat who wants America to lead with strength and
idealism, I would be honored to have your vote. (Applause.) The
Democratic Party has a tradition of support for our public schools.
The party of Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey always stood up for the
right of poor and minority children to get the best education America
could offer. Many Democrats look at my opponent and wonder where that
firm conviction has gone. Just as teachers and principals across
America are lifting the sights of our schools and raising the test
scores of minority children, my opponent is talking about weakening the
standards and going back to the old days of stagnation and excuses for
failure.

I got into politics and I ran for governor of Texas because I
wanted to challenge that soft bigotry of low expectation. I didn't
want to stand by and watch another generation of students miss out on
the opportunity of our great country. When I came to Washington, I
made schools my first domestic priority. We've increased funding to
record levels. We're demanding results for our children of every
background. If you're a Democrat who believes in strong public schools
that teach every child, I'd be honored to have your vote. (Applause.)

Americans of both political parties have always had respect and
reverence for the institution of marriage. Never in our history has
marriage been a partisan issue; it's not a partisan issue today. Yet,
many Democrats look at my opponent and wonder, where is his commitment
to defending the basic institution of civilization. He says he
supports marriage, but he'll do nothing to defend it. My opponent even
voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as
between a man and a woman. More than two-thirds of Democrats in the
Senate supported that act, and President Bill Clinton signed it into
law. On the issue of protecting marriage, the Senator from
Massachusetts is outside the mainstream of America, and outside the
mainstream of the Democratic Party.

I believe that our society must show tolerance and respect for
every individual; yet I do not believe this commitment of tolerance
requires us to redefine marriage. (Applause.) If you are a Democrat
who believes that marriage should be protected from activist judges,
I'd be honored to have your vote. (Applause.)

The Democrat Party has also a great tradition of defending the
defenseless. I remember the strong conscience of the late Democratic
Governor from Pennsylvania, Robert Casey, who once said that when we
look to the unborn child, the real issue is not when life begins, but
when love begins. (Applause.) I remember the moral clarity of the
late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Democrat of New York, who said
that partial birth abortion is "as close to infanticide as anything I
have ever come upon." Many Democrats look at my opponent and see an
attitude that is much more extreme. He says that life begins at
conception, but denies that our caring society should prevent even
partial birth abortion.

Preventing partial birth abortion is an ethical conviction shared
by many people of every faith, and by people who have no religion at
all. I understand good people disagree on the life issue. So I've
worked with Republicans and Democrats to find common ground on
difficult questions and to move this good-hearted nation toward a
culture of life. If you're a Democrat who believes that our society
must always have room for the voiceless and the vulnerable, I would be
honored to have your vote. (Applause.)

There are Democrats all over America, north and south, east and
west, who believe their party's nominee does not share their deepest
values. I know the Democrats are not going to agree with me on every
issue. Yet on the big issues of our country's security, victory in the
war against terror, improving our public schools, respecting marriage
and human life, I hope people who usually vote for the other party will
take a close look at my agenda. If you're a Democrat, and your dreams
and goals are not found in the far left wing of the Democrat Party, I'd
be honored to have your vote. And next Tuesday, I ask you stand with
me. (Applause.)

And I want to thank -- and I want to thank each and every one of
you who have come today for standing with me. I appreciate your
support. I appreciate your convictions. I appreciate your good work.
I believe in the future of this country. (Applause.)

One of my favorite quotes was written by a Texan named Tom Lea. He
said this -- he said, "Sarah and I live on the east side of the
mountain. It is the sunrise side, not the sunset side. It is the side
to see the day that is coming, not to see the day that is gone."
During the course of this campaign my opponent has spent much of the
time talking about the day that is gone. I'm talking about the day
that is coming. (Applause.)

We've been through a lot together in the last four years. Because
we've done the hard work of climbing that mountain, we can see the
valley below. For the next four years, we'll protect our families;
we'll build on the prosperity of our nation; we will defend our deepest
values; we will spread freedom and liberty around the world and
continue to work for the peace we all long for.

You know, when I campaigned across this great state in 2000, I
said, if you gave me a chance to serve, I would uphold the honor and
the integrity of the office to which I have been elected. With your
help, with your hard work, I will do so for four more years. Thanks
for coming. God bless. Thank you all. (Applause.)